| Wireless News Summer 1998 | |
Summary of - “Two Kinds of Paging, All Kinds of Debate” and “Pagers: Teenagers Formulate High-Tech Language”Technology is growing at an exponential rate. Looking back I can remember the late 1970's, when having an answering machine was nearly unheard of. Rotary phones were the staple of communications everywhere, and a “beeper” was just that – something bulky a few elite businessmen carried that “beeped” for a seemingly unknown reason. Today everyone from kids to the CEOs of major corporations carry some form of wireless communication. The definition of the word “pager” has changed from “one who pages,” to “a small electronic wireless device utilized for communication.” Pagers are themselves evolving into their own forms, from that of a simple numeric display to things like keypad information exchange. In today's rapidly growing market there is a close battle occurring between pager companies. The crux of the tension exists between two in particular: Paging Network Inc. of Plano, Texas, and SkyTel Corp., a subsidiary of Mobile Telecommunications Technologies Corp., of Jackson Miss. Paging Network offers a new innovative concept called “VoiceNow.” VoiceNow forgoes the interactive capabilities of its telecommunications network, instead utilizing a pager that functions much like an answering machine. Rather than passing along alpha-numerical messages, it transmits the actual voice of the caller. To respond, the pager owner must use a phone. This service generally runs $10 to $15 dollars a month. On the other hand, SkyTel offers a more interactive system to its customers. For about $30 dollars a month SkyTel leases a pocket-sized, five-ounce pager that lets users send and receive text messages on a four-line display screen. However, the first generation of SkyTel pagers lacks keypads and has only rudimentary navigational buttons to enter text, so it makes typing messages difficult. Motorola, the largest maker of paging devices in the world to date, has announced it hopes to deliver a more elaborate model by the end of summer. A completely different medium for pagers is developing as well, albeit unintentionally by the manufacturers and telecommunications companies that provides them. Teenagers have taken to using alpha-numeric displays on traditional pagers, and are using them to send each other encoded messages. They use the numbers to represent letters, so that they can keep in touch with their friends and families. For example, the command “go home” is written 90*401773. In the digital world, 9 looks like g, 0s are obvious 0s, 4 is a legless h, 1 next to two 7s approximates the shape of an M, and 3 is a backwards E. So, then, it would seem that wireless communication is evolving of its own volition. It's anyone's guess what kids will do with the new toys that come out. |
This newsletter is issued once or twice per quarter. I hope you will benefit from reading it. The newsletter contains the latest information concerning the many products and services provided by Wireless Trader. Any questions regarding the sources of our articles can be directed to Constantine Lackides at Wireless Trader – (310) 318-1234.
1010 Aviation Blvd Just 15 minutes south of Phone: (310) 318-1234
©
Copyright 1998 Wireless Trader. |
